Star Wars Episode VII Has "Hundreds" of Live-Action Stormtroopers

[Fanghawk]

Star Wars Episode VII Has "Hundreds" of Live-Action Stormtroopers

Star Wars Episode VII actor Oscar Isaacs describes sets filled with ships, Stormtroopers, and physical setpieces.

One criticism made against the <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/star%20wars>Star Wars prequels (outside of midichlorians) was that the trilogy relied too heavily on CG effects. That's a big reason fans were excited to hear that <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/136937-Rian-Johnson-Says-that-Star-Wars-Episode-VII-is-Using-More-Practical-Sets-Than-the-Prequel-Trilogy>Episode VII would mark a return to constructed sets and physical effects. But how dedicated is J.J. Abrams to this old-school vision? Dedicated enough that action scenes will be filmed with large numbers of live-action Stormtroopers.

That information came out during an interview with Robin Hood and A Most Violent Year's Oscar Isaac, who was cast in Star Wars: Episode VII. "[Abrams is] shooting on film and actually building the sets, so you've got hundreds of Stormtroopers or whatever, and hundreds of extras and all the ships," he said. "You actually see it. It's all real. Everyone can interact with the world."

Working in that kind of environment must feel like a Star Wars fan's dream, and Isaac notes that there's an impressive level energy and optimism on set. "Everyone's having a really good time," he explained. "J.J. sets that tone. There's a lot of enthusiasm, and it's being done with a lot of heart. There's nothing cynical about the way we're doing this."

It won't be until Dec. 18, 2015 that we find out whether these physical effects and live-action Stormtroopers will pay off. Still, I suspect anyone who misses the visual style of the classic trilogy <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/136283-Star-Wars-Episode-VIIs-X-Wing-Revealed-Update>has a lot to look forward to.

Source: Entertainment Weekly, via <a href=http://www.polygon.com/2014/9/24/6838359/star-wars-episode-vii-stormtroopers>Polygon

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[Nimcha]

What an odd decision. The CGI clones in the third movie already looked real enough and they did a lot more than just standing around in the background.

 

[Evonisia]

What an odd decision. The CGI clones in the third movie already looked real enough and they did a lot more than just standing around in the background.

Ditto the Battle Droids who were (for the most part) CGI and were completely believable and active in their actions (if not necessarily their intelligence and portrayal).

But the majority like there being real people standing there so who am I to complain?

 

[Soviet Heavy]

So long as they don't try to pass them off as clones, sure. Volunteer service in the stormtrooper corps, ho!

 

[Daaaah Whoosh]

I wonder how much money they could make selling each set of armor...

 

[Lazy Kitty]

So Abrams has hundreds of real, physical stormtroopers at his disposal.
Should we be worried he'll tell them to execute order 66 and take over the world and the rest of the galaxy?

 

[Grumman]

This sounds like an example of Film Crit Hulk's "Tangible Details" theory. People disliked the prequels but they don't know how to explain it, so they latch onto something that "feels" bad - the use of CGI - even though that wasn't the cause of the problem. There have been some damn good movies made with nothing but CGI, and the prequels did have some really cool physical effects, but it's an easier scapegoat than trying to dissect why the story did not work.

So Abrams has hundreds of real, physical stormtroopers at his disposal.
Should we be worried he'll tell them to execute order 66 and take over the world and the rest of the galaxy?

No.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

This sounds like an example of Film Crit Hulk's "Tangible Details" theory. People disliked the prequels but they don't know how to explain it, so they latch onto something that "feels" bad - the use of CGI - even though that wasn't the cause of the problem. There have been some damn good movies made with nothing but CGI, and the prequels did have some really cool physical effects, but it's an easier scapegoat than trying to dissect why the story did not work.

My problem with the CGI is that it was wasted. I was expecting an epic space battle in Revenge of the Sith. Something that would blow Return of the Jedi out of the water. And for a brief few moments, it looked like it was going to happen. Instead, just when it's about to really start, it cuts to Anakin and Obi talking back in forth in their cockpits and trying to shake little droids off their ships.
I wanted to see ARC-170s tearing through space in dogfights. I wanted to see something on par with the trench run in Return of the Jedi. I wanted to see something like the A-wing crashing through the bridge. The technology was there to make all these things happen, but I just don't feel like it was used well. We got a few seconds of good stuff and then nothing.

Anyway, on to the actual story. This sounds promising, but I hope this doesn't become a case of "can't see the forest for the trees." I hope Abrams doesn't get so focused on using real props and trying to recapture the look of the originals that he forgets to make the rest of the movie and story good. I'm still very up in the air about this whole thing, especially after they said the E.U. no longer matters. I liked the E.U. and its characters.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

Abrams is trying to rely on practical effects and live actors. That's good. Just don't let him find any old lenses from before the time when they started being designed to reduce lens flare.

So Abrams has hundreds of real, physical stormtroopers at his disposal.
Should we be worried he'll tell them to execute order 66 and take over the world and the rest of the galaxy?

Have you seen the original trilogy? Abrams, at most, has hundreds of scary looking meat shields that might confuse an enemy for a minute with their horrible aim.

 

[Jamieson 90]

While we the audience may not be able to tell the difference between real live actors and CGI creations, the actors working on set will obviously see the difference and if it helps them to perform better then that can only be a good thing.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Abrams is trying to rely on practical effects and live actors. That's good. Just don't let him find any old lenses from before the time when they started being designed to reduce lens flare.

So Abrams has hundreds of real, physical stormtroopers at his disposal.
Should we be worried he'll tell them to execute order 66 and take over the world and the rest of the galaxy?

Have you seen the original trilogy? Abrams, at most, has hundreds of scary looking meat shields that might confuse an enemy for a minute with their horrible aim.

"You shot rebels?"

"I shot at rebels..."

This news doesn't alleviate my primary concern about the movie(that the script will be crap), but at least it is giving me less things to be concerned about.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I'd like to reiterate that of all the problems with the prequels the over use of CGI was the least of them.

 

[Saltyk]

Man, I always feel so alone when it comes to the prequels. I didn't hate them. Jar Jar was annoying, but not anymore than C-3PO was to me. The CGI never bothered me.

Hell, we got to see some great moments of the Jedi at their prime. I actually liked seeing Yoda ask the students what they thought of Obi-Wan's problem in Attack of the Clones. It showed that Yoda could use a moment like that to teach, but also respected the children's thoughts on the matter and acknowledged the frightening prospect that it was right.

I will admit that I was pretty annoyed with Anakin by Revenge of the Sith. He seemed extra emo and whiny by that point.

Still, I don't hate the prequels. You may begin stoning me and burning me in effigy.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I like the idea, and it can work out well if implemented right. The biggest drawback of the prequels were the sets. Green screens just scream "fake" even done well on-screen. Because Star Wars (A New Hope) looked almost believable, changing up the imagery to something too computer generated made the films lose some flavor. I just hope this doesn't get washed aside by a crap script. But I have higher hopes now that Lucas is not helming it. There's a metaphor about fists and things slipping through fingers that I'd love to apply to this (considering its also a quote from A New Hope) but I'm not clever enough today to do it justice.

 

[Hawki]

I kinda find this offputting...no, it's not the use of practical sets and stuff, I can enjoy both CGI and practical effects. What actually puts me off is (and I'm probably going to be crucified for this) the use of Stormtroopers, period.

What I mean is, the sequel trilogy is supposed to take place decades after the OT. But so far everything we've seen (Millenium Falcon, X-Wing, Stormtroopers), is taken straight from the OT. Say what you will about the prequels, but they were at least their own thing. The clones were clearly the precursor to the Stormtroopers, and the ships and vehicles in films 2 and 3 were clear predecessors to the likes of the AT-ATs and Star Destroyers, but they weren't copy-pasted.

 

[immortalfrieza]

Man, I always feel so alone when it comes to the prequels. I didn't hate them. Jar Jar was annoying, but not anymore than C-3PO was to me. The CGI never bothered me.

Hell, we got to see some great moments of the Jedi at their prime. I actually liked seeing Yoda ask the students what they thought of Obi-Wan's problem in Attack of the Clones. It showed that Yoda could use a moment like that to teach, but also respected the children's thoughts on the matter and acknowledged the frightening prospect that it was right.

I will admit that I was pretty annoyed with Anakin by Revenge of the Sith. He seemed extra emo and whiny by that point.

Still, I don't hate the prequels. You may begin stoning me and burning me in effigy.

I liked the prequels well enough as well, and I especially liked the cartoons and comics that came from it, so their existence is justified by that alone. The prequels suffer from what I like to call "We've seen it before" syndrome. In other words if the prequels had come first and the original trilogy had come second, the prequels would be the movies getting the standing ovations and the original trilogy would be the one getting all the hate. Most all the problems people had with the prequel movies were the same ones the original trilogy had but nobody noticed or cared about because it was new and fresh.

OT: I'll say it, I like CGI and can't understand why people hate it so much. Any CGI looks much more realistic than practical effects provided they put a little effort into it, and the prequel trilogy had VERY good effects.

 

[Metalrocks]

sounds all very good but having real things on set does not mean it will make a damn good movie. even though i did enjoy the last star trek movie.

 

[Callate]

Given how high the budgets of a lot of CG movies run nowadays, I have to wonder if there's really that much of a cost savings for a few hundred extras for a few days and a few hundred sets of molded plastic armor versus a professional CG team.

 

[Ishal]

I'd like to reiterate that of all the problems with the prequels the over use of CGI was the least of them.

Perhaps not, but it was the icing on the particularly lacking cake. Star Wars has always been less Science Fiction and more Science Fantasy. The basic story it told wasn't all that ground breaking, despite subverting a trope. Star Wars was known for it's spectacle presentation. Lucasfilm was known for it. At the very least people should have come out enjoying the spectacle, but even that was lacking in the prequels, especially the first one.

A step in the right direction, is a step in the right direction.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

Abrams is trying to rely on practical effects and live actors. That's good. Just don't let him find any old lenses from before the time when they started being designed to reduce lens flare.

So Abrams has hundreds of real, physical stormtroopers at his disposal.
Should we be worried he'll tell them to execute order 66 and take over the world and the rest of the galaxy?

Have you seen the original trilogy? Abrams, at most, has hundreds of scary looking meat shields that might confuse an enemy for a minute with their horrible aim.

Well, maybe he tells them to execute order 66 while imagining everyone else are tracks.
Also, yes, I did.